Welcome to my blog. I'm a husband, father, son who loves all things communications. I love listening what people really think and life and spirituality and how to connect they to God. My family means the world to me. I'm loved by God. Oh and this blog is my personal opinion and isn't necessarily the opinion of the church I serve in.

04/28/2010

Church Marketing Myth No. 7

Steve Kryger's myth: Design doesn't matter as long as the message is good. It's not just about the message, it's how you implement it that counts.

Brandon Cox'smyth: It's Okay for churches to create design that is sub-par quality. Fact: We buy into this myth because we're non profit. But ministries and non profits that win are committed to excellence and have counted the cost of doing things well.

Steven Fogg's myth: Good design doesn't matter. Fact:Good design can help change the world. It really matters. Church staff sometimes haven't had exposure to the power and potential that good design can offer. If creatives can lead up, be courageous and push through any lack of knowledge with their coworkers or leaders, the results can be startling. If they don't, the results could be disastrous.

Michael Buckingham'smyth: Designers/Copywriters/Videographers should do it for free. God gave them the talents and it's for kingdom work. Fact:Sounds like a great idea, and I've done pro bono work. The problem is often this is just a veiled attempt at being cheap. This also typically turns into an undervaluation of the gifts. The church should be the most generous, not the least.

Steve's note: If you pay peanuts or worse still get someone to do your design for free you can only every expect monkeys. Check out Michael's blog post at Church Marketing Sucks for more on this.

2 Comments

The whole undervaluing of asthetic gifts thing I like to call "the Christian I geek syndrome" where near enough is good enough. It communicates that God is not worthwhile being excellent for, and that the church is a place for drop outs and failures I.e. If you can't contribute anything to the real world, you can always fall back on the half-hearted schmucks at church. I believe that the church is/should be the best people development organisation on the face of the earth. Encouraging people to use their talents to the full in the service of God - and recognizing that the worker is worth their wages should be foundational to helping people become all that they were created to be.

That would the "Christian Geek Syndrome" where it's ok to be crap because God looks at the heart. And God also dealt really harshly with ananias and saphira for holding back all that they had to give...